Xamarin vs Cordova. Let’s see which, when, why.

The developing process being quite expensive, companies and clients take to the cross-platform development. The one that makes it possible for the code to be shared among different platforms. There are different ways to go in this field of development. Let’s consider two of them: Xamarin and Cordova (PhoneGap previously). So, which one to choose?

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that Xamarin does not create a cross-platform app, it creates native one while Cordova provides an easy-to-use framework that allows creating apps in Javascript, CSS, and HTML5.

Working with Xamarin, a developer should know not only Xamarin and C# but also the Android and iOS platforms and their app models. Cordova does not require knowledge of several mobile environments, and developers shouldn’t go further to the platform APIs.

With Cordova, developers can mix mobile development and WebView. There are cases when developers build apps totally from WebView APIs. What Cordova does not support is extensive access to the API functionality, complex UI and UX, easy usage of the open frameworks and apps appearing native.

So, Cordova is a great option for the company with really tight budgets. Such companies should remember though that with free open-source materials, it is really hard to get an app with high performance. Cordova represents the hybrid app development option with Xamarin belonging to the native development. More information about Xamarin benefits you can be found here: gloriumtech.com/blog/xamarin-development-mobile-apps/